Hornady Critical Duty

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Anyone heard of this new stuff? They make three different loads, two for 9mm and one for .40.

What I find interesting is the bullet weights. The 9mm is 135g and 135g +P. The .40 sw is in 175g. This line is supposed to have excellent barrier penetration as well as regular penetration. Also retains the flex tip similar to Critical Defense. The thing that has stopped me from Critical Defense is I don't like 115g loads for SD, but this stuff seems appealing. They say that Critical Defense is made for light recoil personal defense, whereas this Critical Duty is loaded hotter.

If I were interested in using either load (I'm not, at present) I'd seriously take their info under consideration when choosing a load, especially the part about the Critical Duty ... "these loads are NOT optimized for short barreled, concealed carry style handguns.

I know only one person currently using them, and that's only because he learned the 380 AUTO 90 gr. FTX CRITICAL DEFENSE® was approved for authorized secondary & off-duty pistols by a major agency which approved the S&W .380 Bodyguard (which he recently bought).

I'll wait until after the Duty loads are reviewed during any in-depth T&E by some of the larger LE/Gov agencies before I consider using them, myself. I'd wonder about the cost if they become available as contract/bid duty ammunition, or whether they'd be priced out of serious consideration due to manufacturing expense.

Dunno. Time will tell.

In the meantime, the other major ammunition companies still offer some "premium" LE loads ...

I would like to see the 135 grain loaded in the 357 Sig and the 175 grain loaded in the 10mm. With their harder core and Interlock construction they may be just the ticket for the higher velocity loads.

Hornaday has always taken a lackadaisacal attitude toward SD ammo IMO. Their main thrust is rifle cartridges & hunting ammo, which is really secondary to their component business. Personally, I think the CD line is a joke. It does nothing spectacular and is just plain ordinary.

Hornady's XTP bullet enjoys an excellent reputation for accuracy and penetration, although it gives up some expansion compared to other highly regarded premium JHP self-defense rounds.

When I carried a micro 9mm pistol the most accurate --- by far --- round I tested with the pistol was the 115-grain Fiocchi Extrema XTP, and I found this ammo to be consistently accurate and "hot" every time I tested it for verification.

When the weather is a bit warmer and I have more time I plan on testing the Hornady 147-grain XTP round in my .357sig. What's not to like about a bullet in that weight flying at 1250 fps?

Hornady's XTP bullet enjoys an excellent reputation for accuracy and penetration, although it gives up some expansion compared to other highly regarded premium JHP self-defense rounds...

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It was originally designed as a HUNTING HP and not a SD HP. Testing shows it does nothing spectacular. In that regard it satisfies the desires of the penetration junkies. I reiterate: Hornaday's main thrust is with HUNTING ammo and not SD ammo.

Hornaday has always taken a lackadaisacal attitude toward SD ammo IMO. Their main thrust is rifle cartridges & hunting ammo, which is really secondary to their component business. Personally, I think the CD line is a joke. It does nothing spectacular and is just plain ordinary.

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This explains a lot about their handgun ammo that I was wondering about. I like their rifle stuff, but the handgun ammo does not seem fully finished, although I buy a lot of XTP bullets and had good luck with them.

It was originally designed as a HUNTING HP and not a SD HP. Testing shows it does nothing spectacular. In that regard it satisfies the desires of the penetration junkies. I reiterate: Hornaday's main thrust is with HUNTING ammo and not SD ammo.

Click to expand...

It was originally designed as police duty ammo that met the then new FBI standards. It was the first to do so. Prior to that, the FBI was using standard construction bullets at moderate velocities so they would stay together and penetrate (not a bad way to go IMO).

Performance matters, not the history of the bullet style, and people can choose if they want the XTP performance. But the fact is it was developed form it's very beginning as an FBI test passing bullet, not an hunting bullet.

Personally, I think the XTP is a great design. The velocity window is VERY wide and penetration is deep. They are almost like a Partition bullet with the nose being fragile and the shank being tough. That's why Hornady doesn't load them at high velocities, they don't need it.

As for the "Critical" whatever, I don't see what purpose it serves other than getting the attention of some admin types that will want to buy it so they can tell the admin types from other depts that they big thinkers.

It was originally designed as police duty ammo that met the then new FBI standards. It was the first to do so. Prior to that, the FBI was using standard construction bullets at moderate velocities so they would stay together and penetrate (not a bad way to go IMO).

Performance matters, not the history of the bullet style, and people can choose if they want the XTP performance. But the fact is it was developed form it's very beginning as an FBI test passing bullet, not an hunting bullet.

Personally, I think the XTP is a great design. The velocity window is VERY wide and penetration is deep. They are almost like a Partition bullet with the nose being fragile and the shank being tough. That's why Hornady doesn't load them at high velocities, they don't need it.

As for the "Critical" whatever, I don't see what purpose it serves other than getting the attention of some admin types that will want to buy it so they can tell the admin types from other depts that they big thinkers.

The Hornady XTP is one of my favorite HP bullets. I keep the 155 grain in my Glock 40, 200 grain in the Glock 29, 230 +P in my 45's, and as an expanding option the 300 grain in 44 Magnum as well as the 300 grain Mag Tip in 454. The product quality of Hornady products is outstanding. No worries on hot 454 loads of bullets jumping the crimp. They all run good in my guns.

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